The Vanished Birds was an odd story to summarise. In essence it is a novel of two parts, one in which a crew of a ship ply their trade across the galaxy and the second about a young, abandoned boy who eventually becomes capable of personal transportation through space. There are a lot of ideas... Continue Reading →

It’s that time of year again the nominees for the Arthur C Clarke Award have dropped once more. This year there is an even more eclectic mix of books most of which I would never have thought of reading were it not for this award. None of this year’s authors are known to me but... Continue Reading →

Cage of Souls is an interesting book many of Adrian’s are. He has a way with storytelling, a way of weaving a narrative from the simple into something greater. His ability as an author was show to me in the way in which he got me, an acknowledge arachnophobe, to care about a civilisation of... Continue Reading →

The City in the Middle of the Night is interesting foray into what it means to be human and however much you might love a person you cannot always know their true intentions. The novel is set in a far off planet which is tidally locked. Half the planet is in blistering sun and the... Continue Reading →

The Last Astronaut is a fairly run of the mill first contact science fiction story occasionally elevated by some novel ideas. The setting is the near future and our lead is a failed Mars Astronaut who is struggling with her past role as Mission Commander and her need to redeem herself. Character interaction is played... Continue Reading →

A memory called empire is a solid, standard science fiction novel. It very much has the feel of those classic yellow Golancz sci fi books of old. The plot is basically a blend of political intrigue and a murder mystery in a science fiction wrapper. We follow the arrival of a new ambassador, Mahit, from... Continue Reading →

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi is the last of the books on the Arthur C Clarke Award list to review. Like several books in this years nominations this was another difficult one to get through. The book is set in the aftermath of the Iraq War. The Americans are still patrolling the streets along... Continue Reading →

The Loosening Skin is most definitely one of those books I would not have read if it were not for the this award and unfortunately I wish I hadn't. This is by no means a terrible book, its just not my cup of tea. Whiteley has constructed what I assume is a parallel world in... Continue Reading →

Semiosis is a deeply interesting book for someone with an interest in biology like myself. Burke has created an alien world that works on a deeper level than most. For some the wildlife or aliens need little explanation, after all they are a plot tool to explore ideas but when your plot explores intelligence and... Continue Reading →

I have a rather large admission to make regarding this book, I haven'f finished it. This means that I am not going to be able to write a proper review for it. The problem is that the book is the third and final volume of a trilogy. This meant that when starting the book I... Continue Reading →